Wrexham travel to second-bottom Mansfield for what is a
'must win' game for both teams.
We have dropped one point adrift of the Stags following
the results on the weekend and the winner of this match will have
an outside chance of staying up, but the loser will more or less be making
plans for the Conference next season.
Both teams want to avoid the 1-1 draw between the two sides
at the Racecourse at the beginning of March, as this will make chances of survival
unlikely for both teams.
Like us, Mansfield have been struggling at the wrong end
of the table for the majority of the season and have only climbed out of
the relegation zone for one game out of the last twenty-three.
Home has not been sweet for the Stags this season with only
two wins at field Mill compared with five on the road but the Stags have
only collected three points once from their last nine games.
Mansfield have lost nine of their last ten games at
Field Mill in the league, their last win at home coming against
league leaders Peterborough back on Boxing Day, and the only point since
then has been a 1-1 draw against Bury.
Mansfield parted company with manager Billy Dearden
last month with the 4-0 defeat at home to Rochdale proving to be the
final straw.
His assistant, Paul Holland, was named caretaker
manager following Dearden's departure and was given the job on a
permanent basis last week despite not winning any games since taking
charge.
Holland has made use of the loan market last week with
former Red Neil Wainwright arriving from Darlington and experienced
midfielder Kevin Horlock from Scunthorpe until the end of the season.
Top scorer for Mansfield is Michael Boulding with an
impressive 21 goals so far in all competitions for a team struggling in
the relegation zone.
Boulding's goals has kept the Stags alive this season,
with his nearest rivals for the top goal scorer award seventeen goals
behind with four this season.
Recent Encounters:
The match at the Racecourse a month ago ended in a 1-1
draw with Michael Boulding's deflected opener for the Stags cancelled
out by a free kick from Michael Proctor.
The same match at the Racecourse last season also
ended up in a draw and Wrexham's fans hope history does not repeat on
Tuesday night, as we fell to a heavy 3-0 defeat at Field Mill last time
out.
Our last victory over Mansfield was back in December
2005 but you have to go back to 1984 our last win at
Field Mill. We did beat the Stags 1-0 in the League Cup in 2001 but this
game was played at Notts County's Meadow Lane.
The overall head-to-head sees Mansfield ahead on
twenty-four wins to our twenty-two and there have been seventeen draws
in the sixty-three league matches between the two sides.
Team News:
Initial team news suggests that Neil Roberts will be
unavailable for this game but Danny Sonner is expected to return.
Both players missed the defeat to Barnet on the
weekend with Sonner expected to have recovered from his Achilles injury
but Roberts, who missed the game on the weekend after picking up a
virus, is now a doubt following a training ground injury.
Mansfield have no fresh injury worries and Paul
Holland has the same squad from the weekend to choose from.
The only absentee for the Stags is midfielder Lee Bell
who is expected to be out for the season after damaging his medial knee
ligaments.
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